Talking movies with Chai and Mariah
who called the film "slight but charming" and "a modest winner."
However, the popularity of this film, both with the Academy and
general populace points to a more troubling fact - the indie boom that
revitalized American film in the 90's is now definitely over. Ten
years ago, independent film was Pulp Fiction, Leaving Las Vegas, and
the Piano. Now it's "Little Miss Sunshine", which is basically a
studio comedy that studios simply don't make anymore, mainly because
it doesn't have any SNL alumni (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn aren't
from SNL, but that's a distinction without a difference). The fact
that the film relies on quirkiness and not gross out humour while
making shallow references to Proust and Nietzsche now establishes it
as entertainment for a tiny band of urban elite and suitable for
acknowledgment by the Academy, while the hordes of teens crowding
suburban multiplexes will have to make do with movies by the Wayans
Bros., which is suitable only for acknowledgment by the box office.
In moaning the decline of independent film, I feel like those old men
I grew up reading who bemoaned the decline of the French film or
Italian film or the director driven films of the late 60's and early
70's. So much of film culture is seemingly caught up in a sense of
perpetual decline and complaining about Hollywood, one forgets how
much great filmmaking we see on a regular basis. Clint Eastwood is
very much at his height, and I agree that his "Iwo Jima Saga" is this
year's best work. Almodovar has fully regained his form after some
less than stellar films in the mid-90's and Volver is probably the
best structured film he has ever made. The Mexican triumvirate of
Curon, Iñárritu, and Del Toro have taken the aesthetic of Nuevo Cine
Mexicano global, and United 93 is perhaps the greatest movie ever shot
in "real time." So it wasn't all that bad.
Which brings us to Scorsese, some of whose recent work was very bad.
The Departed is his best film in over a decade, and it's interesting
that he will probably win an Oscar for a film set in Boston as opposed
to New York, and for a remake of a Hong Kong action film - a genre
that owes no small amount of it's aesthetic to Scorsese. The fact the
lost for his finest work isn't surprising - the Oscars never gave a
statue to Alfred Hitchcock, who is perhaps the greatest Hollywood
director of all time. The Academy isn't composed of film scholars, but
graying actors and actresses who tend to have rather bourgeois tastes.
So the brilliance of Raging Bull, which I think is Scorsese's best
work, flew right by them.
However, the Oscars could be worse - they could be the Grammy's which
simply hands out awards to best selling albums of the year, and is an
award that serious fans of pop music pay little to no attention to
(the classical Grammy's are a bizarrely good and serious award, but
now I am getting way off topic). The fact that millions of people
around the world will watch Scorsese win an Oscar and then may be
interested enough to check out some of his many great films, the
Departed included, is one of the few small blessings the Oscars tend
to give us from time to time.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Mariah, Chai
From: Blake
Date: 2.24.07, 2:37PM
Re: Movies 2006
emerging all around him after Franco's death. Post-fascist,
post-Catholic, and post-patriarchal, Almodovar's films have tended to
focus on precisely what Franco's Throne and Alter conception of
society repressed - women, gays, misfits, and sexuality in all its'
complexity. Mendelsohn make much of Almodovar's own homosexuality,
which was highly illegal in the Spain he grew up in.
Now Spain is one of a handful of countries to legalize gay marriage,
and the country is one of the richest, most cosmopolitan, and liberal
countries in the world. With the transformation of the country
seemingly complete, what interested me in Volver was the fact
Almodovar seemed to return to Spain of his youth, to the village and
"ordinary people" of his youth, and to La Mancha, home of the most
famous nostalgia buff of all time. And in some sense Almodovar seems
plagued with same question that plagued Cervantes as the Middle Ages
ended and the modern era began - have we really progressed for the
better? Has anything really changed? The cyclical torment of women at
the hands of men, the attempt to repeat the crime of incest upon a
child of incest seems to point to an newly discovered ambivalence
about the new Spain by one of its' most famous abd celebrated
chroniclers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back from a day at the races, I've almost recovered. Before I tackle your questions and reflect on your thoughts, I want to thank you both for giving me images of Gael Garcia Bernal. As Chai knows, he is "my boyfriend" and even his despicable character in " Babel " made me love him more. I am hoping to watch the Science of Sleep before the festivities begin this afternoon - I am eschewing attending mass for watching the red carpet pre-shows. So much for Lenten resolutions.
My observations will be a little more visceral and much less academic or intellectual than either of yours.
I've missed a number of the nominated films this season due to a lost year on a political campaign but I've caught up on most of them over the last few months including the "Last King of Scotland" and "Venus". Forest Whitaker and Peter O’Toole are definitely at the top of this year’s Leading Actor class. Saying the Last King was enjoyable is a bit of a stretch - a young child ran up and down the movie theater's aisle during some of the torture scenes adding to the anxiety of the viewing experience...but Whitaker's performance was amazing. I have to confess an odd obsession with Idi Amin as my mother used to threaten me and my brothers (her creative albeit tasteless threats were well-deserved) that Idi Amin would eat us if we didn't behave. Whitaker really made the madman a human, even likable and pitiful at the same time.
Peter O'Toole's performance in "Venus" seemed less of a performance and more of a natural extension of everything he is and every role he has played. Although the depressing subject of aging and death wasn't light and happy, I found "Venus" one of the few nominated movies that were enjoyable and easy to watch this year. So many of the great movies this season were like terrible and repulsive accidents that one can't keep her eyes off of even as her stomach turns. I don't know if this was O'Toole's best works but it was solid and he does deserve a golden statue already! Reality and patterns aside, I am personally against awards to an actor for his/her body of work and not the film at hand.
I’ve already mentioned my Latin love, Gael, now can we discuss what happened to my Asian love Ken Watanabe? His performance in "Letters from Iwo Jima " was stunning. A superior performance in a superior movie compared to that in “The Last Samurai”. My Japanese father cringes when I even mention that Tom Cruise epic but I think he will now agree with me that Watanabe is one of the finest Japanese actors ever - even on the level of the late Toshio Mifune.
The Best Picture category is a tough one for me to predict. ENOUGH with "Little Miss Sunshine"! I enjoyed the film. Loved the cast. Actually laughed so hard I cried (not teared up but really cried) for the first time in my life. BUT this film should not be a Best Picture contender.
I was blown away by “The Departed”. I finally saw it last week on DVD and watched it three times (twice back-to-back) and was impressed each time. I’m confused about Mark Wahlberg’s nomination not because of his performance but because of his performance in comparison to the other cast members. In my humble opinion Leonardo should have received a nomination for “The Departed” and possibly not for “Blood Diamond”.
“ Babel ” was another one of this year’s hard to watch films but it was quite an achievement. The Tokyo scenes really captured the city I know and love. The writing, acting, and visuals were very strong.
Although I was truly impressed with “The Queen” my pick is “Letters from Iwo Jima ”. I’ve already professed my affection for Watanabe-san. “ Iwo Jima ” was one of those stories that stick with you for a long time. My grandfathers served on either side of WWII – my paternal grandfather was stationed in China with the Japanese army and my material grandfather was in New Zealand with the U.S. army. This two movie series really addressed the issues of both sides and humanized the men who fought on either side. We could digress into a full discussion on war and specifically the war in Iraq but I think the Eastwood duo really made some strong statements on war and the young people who end up fighting them. I think those two films were the best war films I’ve seen.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Mariah, Chai
From: Blake
Date: 2.25.07, 1:44PM
Re: Movies 2006
